


Words I Might Have Ate

by LinneaStarron



Category: My Life as a Teenage Robot
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2021-04-02
Packaged: 2021-04-25 00:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22252063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinneaStarron/pseuds/LinneaStarron
Summary: Bradley Carbunkle and Sheldon Oswald Lee were the best of friends. No matter what, they were always there for each other. The two lifted each other up, even if sometimes egging each other on to do dumb things (like crashing a friend's date). Brad helped Sheldon break out of his comfort zone, while Sheldon kept Brad focused and on his toes. They were a platonic match made in heaven, and nothing would ever get in the way of them staying friends forever....... Even if it meant suppressing their romantic feelings for each other.All characters used, along with the source, belong to Rob Renzetti and Nickelodeon.
Relationships: Brad Carbunkle & Jenny Wakeman, Brad Carbunkle & Sheldon Oswald Lee, Brad Carbunkle/Sheldon Oswald Lee, Sheldon Oswald Lee & Jenny Wakeman
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	1. Friday Get-Together

It was a Friday afternoon, and Sheldon was on his way to the Carbunkle residence. Every Friday he would go there and meet with Brad and Jenny, sometimes Tuck, and they would all watch movies or play board games or whatever seemed interesting that day. Today, Sheldon decided he was going to bring a variety of horror sci-fi movies for the gang’s anticipated movie sleepover.

Sheldon approached the door and swiftly knocked four times. The door swung open to reveal Brad. “Sheldon!” he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around the lanky teen. “Glad you could make it, my main man!”

“I could never miss Friday afternoon!” Sheldon replied, hugging Brad back. Hearing Sheldon’s reply, Brad scoffed and pulled away. “Too bad not everybody feels the same way you do, Shel.”

“What are you talking about?” Sheldon asked, stepping inside of the house. Brad closed the door behind them, slumping against it. “Apparently Jenny’s got some _ date _ she’s going on tonight and ditched us last second,” Brad huffed.

Sheldon’s eyes widened in shock. His body tensed up, causing his hands to flex open and the movies in his grasp to tumble onto the ground. “A _ date _ !?” he screeched. “With who? And why _ today _ of all days!?”

“I don’t know!” Brad shouted, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “She refused to tell me anything, said I’d _ ‘ruin date night’ _ if I knew the deets, or something.”

Sheldon shook his head as he bent down to pick up the fallen films. “Is she still upset about that one time when we---”

“When we crashed her date with Don Primo?” Brad rolled his eyes before leaving his perch at the door and helping Sheldon pick up DVDs. “Yeah, she actually brought that date up when I protested. It’s not _ our _ fault we could tell the guy was bad news for her!”

Sheldon grumbled. “I never liked that damn Prima guy. He thinks he’s _ sooo _ special because he’s got those freakishly good looks, well jokes on him! Looks aren’t even the most important part of a relationship!”

“Doesn’t feel like that’s the case, Shel,” Brad sighed, “and Prima is living proof of that.”

“I don’t get it though!” Sheldon replied, somewhat angered. “Why would you want to date somebody who cares more about himself than the person he’s with?”

Brad went to speak but was cut off by Sheldon. “Actually, don’t bother,” he muttered, “I already know the answer.” Sheldon stood up slowly, lightly placing the stack of DVDs on the coffee table by the television before slumping over on the couch. Brad got up and did the same, seating himself right next to Sheldon. “Come on, Shel, don’t get all depressed on me! Just because we’re not Don Prima levels of popular, doesn’t mean we’ll never get a date.”

“Somehow, I doubt that.”

Brad sighed, putting an arm around Sheldon’s shoulders. “Hey, I wouldn’t lie to you! I’m sure someone out there would date you. The Bradster can assure you that! It’ll just take time and a bit of a confidence boost, then you’ll be ready to reel in the ladies!”

Letting out a chuckle, Sheldon looked over at Brad with wide, teary eyes and a weak smile. “You really think so?”

“I _ know _ so,” he replied, a warm feeling creeping up on his face. The two sat in a comfortable silence for a few seconds, slowly drawing in closer to each other before they both looked away awkwardly. “But, uh,” Brad said, slightly slipping over his own words, “you know what would help make us feel better?”

“What?”

Brad looked back at Sheldon again and gave him a devilish smirk. “How about you and I go on a date?”

“Wh-huh?!” Sheldon sputtered, his face flaming up in a blush. “A date? _ Us _?”

It took Brad a second to realize what exactly he has asked Sheldon. He threw up his hands in shock, waving them back and forth nervously. “Not like that, man! I meant we should, like, crash Jenny’s date again!”

“Oh, heh, yeah, that!” Sheldon replied sheepishly. “But I thought you didn’t know where Jen was?”

“I’m sure we could scope out popular places around town. Shouldn’t be too long, right?”

“Brad, that’d take _ hours _. We could watch at least three of the horror films I brought over before we get lucky enough!”

Brad stroked his chin in thought. “You have a point there. Maybe we can just---”

“Hey Braaad?” a young voice rang through the house. The two teens turned to see Tuck trotting down the stairs, a handheld game console held in his tiny child hands. “My game is dead, go get me some --- hi, Sheldon --- some batteries, would you?”

“Geez, you couldn’t throw a _ please _ into that, Tuck?” Brad responded with a hint of salt. Tuck stuck his tongue out at Brad. “Throw the please in yourself, I don’t wanna do it.”

Brad groaned. “Fine, sure.” He got up and walked over to one of the cabinets in the house to fiddle around for two triple-A batteries. Once obtained, he went to reach for the gameboy but was stopped in his tracks. “I’m not letting you put your dirty hands on my new game! Give me the batteries, I can put them it myself.”

Brad held the batteries over his head and out of Tuck’s reach. After fruitlessly attempting to jump to the height of the batteries, Tuck dramatically sighed. “Give me the batteries, _ please _.”

“That’s much better!” Brad exclaimed smugly, bringing the batteries down to a reachable level; Tuck immediately snatched them out of Brad’s hand before he had to be subjected to any more manners for the day. As Tuck started to walk away, Brad turned to Sheldon and said, “So about Jenny, I’m thinking maybe we should hit the movies first. It seems to be pretty popular there, so---”

“Oh, Jenny?” Tuck called out from the stairs. “I saw her outside my window earlier. I think she’s heading to Mezmer’s or something.”

“Mezmer’s!” Brad exclaimed. “Duh, why didn’t I think of that? Thanks, Tuck!”

Brad ran up to Tuck and squeezed him in a tight hug before walking back over to Sheldon. “Let’s get going, Shel! Who knows how much longer we’ll have before we lose our lead.”

“Sounds good to me!” Sheldon replied; Brad extended an arm out and helped Sheldon off the couch before walking toward the door to put their shoes on. “Bye, dad!” Brad shouted at the top of his lungs, “Sheldon and I are going to Mezmer’s now!”

“Don’t be out too late,” boomed Mr. Carbunkle, “you promised to babysit your brother tonight at nine o’clock.”

Brad looked at his watch; it was a few minutes after 5pm. That was more than enough time for the two boys to check in on Jenny, get a bite to eat, and get home before Brad’s dad went out for the night.

“Sounds good, pops!” he replied. “Love you!”

Brad held the door open for Sheldon, who quietly thanked him before walking outside. Brad locked the door behind them and jogged up to where Sheldon was on the sidewalk. “So, Mezmer’s should be nice,” stated Brad.

“I agree,” Sheldon replied. “We haven’t done a Friday night outing since the _ last _ time we checked in on Jenny’s date.”

“I’m just excited for the meal, dude. I’m starving!” Brad looked over at Sheldon. “Oh, and this will be my treat.”

“Absolutely not, you always pay for the food! I believe it’s my turn to return the favour.”

“Don’t be silly, Shel. I’m the one who dragged us out to do this.”

“It was something I wanted in on regardless of whether or not you were going with. I say we split it fifty-fifty. Sound fair?”

Brad thought about protesting for a second, but knew it would be futile. Sheldon always insisted he pay for his portion of everything; it would take a lot of convincing to get Sheldon not to pay Brad back somehow.

“No complaints here, broski,” he shrugged. “Seems fair enough.”

“I thought so,” Sheldon replied, playfully sticking his tongue out at Brad, who did the same before the two erupted into a fit of giggles. After calming down, the two focused on the sidewalk ahead of them, discussing ideas for their Mezmer’s outing, not consciously realizing that they had started holding hands.

It didn’t matter much to them though, their focus was more set on figuring out how to make sure Jenny’s date went smoothly without getting caught. The two had numerous ideas, shooting them back and forth like a rapid game of table tennis. After a while it became less about being practical and more about coming up with the most ridiculous scenarios for how the night would turn out. The two were laughing up a storm before they even were halfway to Mezmer’s.

It looked like this was going to be a fun Friday get-together.


	2. Mezmer-ized

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey i'm sorry i was gone for so long!!! this semester was really intense for me for multiple reasons but mainly mental health. i'm back in business now though!!! i also made a discord server for people with mlaatr ships (i just wanted a small chill space hjsdkfhsd) and what better to advertise on than my own story? lmao the link will be at the bottom of the chapter B)
> 
> i really hope y'all enjoy this though!!!

It was 5:30pm when the two boys finally arrived at Mezmer’s. Sheldon peered through the window and, sure enough, Jenny was there. She was sitting with a tall, ginger male with green eyes, pale skin, and freckles everywhere.

Brad peered into the window as well. “Hey, isn’t that the popular new kid? Declan, or something?”

“Yeah,” Sheldon grumbled.

“_ Dang _.” Brad quickly scanned Declan before he and Sheldon pulled away from the window. “Well,” Brad continued, “let’s get ready to crash that date, pal!” He winked and playfully elbowed Sheldon before walking to the entrance. Sheldon took one last glance through the window before following behind Brad.

The two waltzed in and grabbed themselves a booth across the diner from where Jenny and her date were. A waitress waltzed over to the table to take their orders. Sheldon was too busy paying attention to Jenny, so Brad ended up ordering himself a chocolate milkshake. The waitress quickly grabbed it for Brad and placed it right in front of Brad with a slight thud.

Sheldon snapped out of his Jenny trance and saw the large shake in front of Brad, but only after the waitress left. Brad saw Sheldon’s dismay and slid his shake over to Sheldon. “Until she gets back,” Brad mentioned, “you can split with me! Just don’t hog it all or anything.”

“You’re fine sharing a straw?” Sheldon asked.

“Hm?” Brad responded. “I can grab you another if you want!”

“Wouldn’t it just be easier to order another shake---”

Sheldon realized his protest went unheard, as Brad had walked off and snagged a straw off of the bar counter before sliding back into his seat. “Voila!” Brad exclaimed. “One straw for my best buddy, coming right up!” Brad plopped the straw into the shake, bringing it toward Sheldon.

Sheldon would have brought up that if Brad was at the counter, that he could have just ordered him a shake, but felt bad since Brad was so intent on sharing this shake.

The two continued watching Jenny and her date. Nothing much happened, but at some point Jenny did laugh pretty hard at one of Declan’s jokes, making Brad and Sheldon roll their eyes. “I bet he’s just trying to butter her up before tearing her heart apart,” Sheldon mumbled before angrily sipping from his drink.

“His joke wasn’t even that funny, man,” Brad responded. “I could tell something _ way _ better than that!”

Sheldon snorted, causing Brad to look over at Sheldon. “What?” he asked. “I’m a fun guy!”

“Not always for the right reasons, you know,” Sheldon giggled, his hand over his mouth.

“Aw man, not you too!” Brad sighed in exasperation. “I thought you were my main man, Shel! Now you’re switching teams on me?”

“No, no, I’m just pulling your leg,” Sheldon replied. “As much as I don’t like this Declan guy, I want our date--- er, _ not-date _, to loosen up. Just like you always say!”

Brad huffed. “I _ do _ always say that…” he trailed off before letting out a small snicker. “Well, whatever, let’s hope their date wraps up so we can focus more on us!”

Sheldon nodded in agreement before the two of them returned to their distant protection of Jenny. However, upon refocusing they noticed her date had started getting up and heading away from the table. “Hopefully he’ll be back and doesn’t ditch Jen last second,” Brad mumbled, turning to Sheldon, who also fixed his attention onto Brad.

“Yeah,” Sheldon agreed. “If he runs off then I’d want to just---”

“Just what?”

The boys jerked their heads to see Jenny standing at their table, hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. “J-Jen!” Brad stammered. “It’s, uh--- what a coincidence to see you here!”

“I _ know _ you guys are spying on me!” Jenny cried out. “I’m not stupid! I’ve noticed you guys looking at me the whole time, and so did Declan. So much, that he even brought it up to me!”

Brad spit out a bunch of “uh”s and “um”s, trying to think of an excuse before Sheldon finally broke. “We just wanted to make sure you were _ okaaay _ !” Sheldon cried, earning a hushed _ “Dude!” _ from Brad.

“I can protect myself, you know,” Jenny huffed. “I don’t need you two following me everywhere like you’re my _ mom _ or something!”

Sheldon bowed his head in shame. “We know you can!” Brad added. “We just, uh, thought you’d like the extra support!”

“Well I _ don’t _ . Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a date to get back to, with a boyfriend who I _ don’t _ need protecting from! And _ stop stalking me _!!!”

And with that, Jenny stormed back over to her table and sat down. Brad and Sheldon sat in an awkward silence before Brad cleared his throat. “Well, uh, I guess that could have gone a lot better?”

“No kidding,” Sheldon mumbled, lifting his head. “Jenny’s right though, we really should stop stalking her.”

“It wasn’t _ stalking _, bro, we were just worried!” Brad leaned over and put a hand on Sheldon’s shoulder. “Let’s just order something and get back to my place, okay? I’m stoked to watch those movies with you, man.”

Sheldon smiled and nodded, responding simply with, “Okay!”

Brad flagged down a waitress and the two ordered themselves dinner; Brad ordered a hamburger with fries and Sheldon went for his fave: a fried pickle, anchovy, and peanut butter sandwich. The food arrived and the two immediately dug into it like they hadn’t eaten all day. Sheldon snagged a few fries from Brad’s plate. Brad was fine with it; he doesn’t mind splitting with his good pal.

Halfway through the meal, Brad decided to spice things up and start a conversation. “So,” he asked, “did you remember to bring something we could watch until I can convince Tuck to sleep? I don’t need him waking me up at four in the morning crying about some scary nightmare monsters _ again _.”

“I’m already a step ahead of you,” Sheldon responded after gulping down another bite of his sandwich. “I made sure to bring a kids’ animated movie I bought online. It looks good enough to entertain a kid? Plus it was only five dollars, what a steal!”

“Sweet! What’s it called?”

“It’s called _ Ratatoing _! It’s about a chef rat.”

Brad cocked his head. “Bro, do you mean _ Ratatouille _?”

Sheldon chuckled. “That’s what it’s based on. The original was too expensive, I figured this bootleg couldn’t hurt?”

Brad shrugged. “Whatever you say, man. I’ll trust you.”

The two returned to eating. Not too long into the silence, Sheldon instinctively glanced over at Jenny’s table and noticed something off. He made a _ pssst! _ sound to Brad, who popped up with a confused look. “Huh?” he asked. “What’s up?”

“Look over at Jenny’s table,” Sheldon whispered.

“Dude, didn’t she say no more watching her date? We don’t need any issues with that Declan guy.”

“Oh trust me, you won’t need to worry about him…”

“What do you mean?” Brad barely managed to ask before noticing the off detail about Jenny’s date; Declan still wasn’t at the table. Jenny was starting to look disheveled, clearly trying to hold back from crying. Brad winced. “Yikes,” he mumbled. “He’s still gone? What’s he even doing?”

“I guess it’s up to us to find out,” Sheldon replied. “I’ll check the bathroom.”

“Alright, I’ll keep watch here in case he comes back.”

The two quickly nodded in agreement before Sheldon got up from his seat and snuck off to the restroom. As he entered, he quickly scanned the open area to see if Declan was there; unsurprisingly, he wasn’t. Sheldon decided to awkwardly press open each stall to see if maybe one of them was locked. As he checked, all of them were open… except for the last one. _ ‘Declan must be in here!’ _ Sheldon thought to himself. _ ‘Now all I’ve gotta do is wait it out and confront him…’ _

Sheldon then proceeded to enter the stall next door and wait patiently for the person to exit.

Meanwhile, Brad anxiously sat at the table, waiting to see if Jenny’s date would finally show back up. He strummed his fingers on the table as he watched Jenny slowly fill with sadness. Once Jenny had reached the point where her head was on the table, her hands resting on it and keeping it down, Brad decided to get up from the table and comfort her. He walked up to Jenny’s table and put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey Jen,” he asked softly, “is everything good?”

Jenny answered him by bursting into tears of oil. Brad panicked and quickly ushered her outside as the rest of the diner was giving them dirty looks. Once outside, Brad put an arm around Jenny. “Oh Brad,” Jenny spoke through her crying, “I don’t even know what I’m doing wrong! Maybe they all just hate me ‘cause I’m some robo-_ freak _!”

“Hey, _ hey _,” Brad replied sternly, “you’re not a freak. What, just ‘cause you’re metal, that doesn’t make you any less of a real girl! These guys are just too full of themselves to see it, girlie.”

Jenny wiped her eyes. “You think I’m a real girl?”

“Duh! A robot girl’s still a girl to me. And you can trust me on that, I’m a _ ladies’ man _ so I would know.” Brad winked, making Jenny giggle.

“Thank you, Brad. I really mean it,” Jenny replied before leaning in toward Brad…

While this was going on, Sheldon finally heard the person in the stall flush and leave. _ ‘This is my chance!’ _ Sheldon thought to himself before confidently popping out of the stall… only to find that the person he was waiting for was just some other random teenager. Defeatedly, he washed his wands and went on his way back to his table. When he got there, he noticed Brad was gone--- and so was Jenny! Concerned, he looked around before seeing two familiar silhouettes through a window. He rushed outside, accidentally bumping his hip onto someone’s chair on the way, and burst through the doors to find…

… Brad and Jenny, lip to lip.

Jenny, startled by the sudden noise, quickly pulled away from Brad. “Oh, hey Sheldon!” she exclaimed with mild nervousness.

Sheldon couldn’t push a single word out, only standing in place with a look that was growing more bewildered by the second. He felt his heart drop, deeper than it’s ever dropped for any of Jenny’s other romantic dates.

“H--- uh, hey Shel!” Brad said, slipping over his own words. “Did you, uh, find Jenny’s date?”

Sheldon gulped. “N-No,” he replied before muttering under his breath, “but I guess that’s not an issue…”

“Aw, bummer,” Brad replied. “Well… maybe that means Jen’s up for hanging out with us tonight?”

Jenny lit up. “Oh, um, sure! I guess I don’t really have any more plans for tonight.”

“Great!” Brad exclaimed as he put his arm around Jenny’s. “Sheldon brought some movies over for a sweet all-nighter movie binge!”

“Ooh, fun! I can’t wait!”

Brad and Jenny turned to start walking toward Brad’s house. “Come on, Shel!” Brad called out. “Let’s get this party started, dude!”

Sheldon perked up anxiously. “Oh, uh, um, alright,” he murmured before dragging along behind Brad and Jenny.

Around a minute into the walk, Brad glanced back at Sheldon, who looked like the saddest puppy known to man. He wanted to say something, but he wasn’t quite sure what to say. Eventually, he had an idea. “Hey Shel!” Brad yelled behind him, causing Sheldon to look up from the ground. “Why are you walking so far behind us? Come here!” Brad used his free arm to motion Sheldon over.

Sheldon hesitated a bit but eventually agreed and caught up to where Brad was standing. He awkwardly brushed hands with Brad before they intertwined with each other casually. Sheldon cracked a smile, feeling his heartbeat rise. He just pushed it off as being happy he was being included with his friends. It couldn’t be anything else… right?

That’s what he managed to convince himself for the whole walk to Brad’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha curveball am i right? anywayz the discord. yes i know the server is tiny and doesn't have an official name but i just want more fandom friends skdhfkj
> 
> https://discord.gg/2Uf9mBV (invite code is 2Uf9mBV in case the link doesn't work yikes)
> 
> but yeah uh i'll be trying to write the third chapter asap!!! i've def got the free time lmao
> 
> also the art is mine for the story!!!


	3. Movie Night

At Brad’s house, the trio all settled into the living room, looking through the pile of movies Sheldon brought over earlier. Brad held up a few different alien themed sci-fi horror films, unable to decide what order he wanted to view them in. Jenny was sorting through supernatural horror films by what seemed like it’d be least scary to most scary, encouraging Brad to do the same with his set.

Meanwhile, Sheldon was behind the two of them, occasionally giving a quick nod or a thumbs up to show he was still somewhat present in the conversation. He really wasn’t in it though; his train of thought was more occupied by what had happened earlier at Mezmer’s. It was already frustrating to see Jenny’s date leave, even if he wasn’t surprised, but for Jenny and Brad to just kiss? Right then and there, where he could see it in full display? That should’ve been  _ him _ kissing Brad! Brad’s soft warm lips planted on his own! Then the two of them would magically be together after that and have a happy relationship forever and ever and be the coolest couple of Tremorton High! Just him and Brad--- 

… Wait, what? No, he meant  _ Jenny _ !  _ Jenny _ and her  _ cold metallic _ lips. His lifelong relationship with  _ Jenny _ . Of course that’s what he was thinking about, why would he ever have these kinds of thoughts about  _ Brad _ , right? He really must have been in a tizzy from what happened earlier, that’s at least what he convinced himself before being sent back to reality by a certain someone calling out his name.

“Shel?  _ Hellooo _ , Earth to Sheldon, can anyone read me?” Brad pestered, waving his hand in front of Sheldon’s face.

“Huh? What is it?”

“Jen and I were wondering what would be scarier ---  _ Night of the Moon Vampires _ or  _ Haunting on Strasse Street _ ?”

“Oh, right! Definitely  _ Night of the Moon Vampires _ . It’s not the most terrifying movie on the list, but this one made it harder to sleep than the other one did!”

Brad scoffed, putting a hand on his hip. “See Jen? I  _ told _ you the vampire one would be scarier!” he teased, wagging his finger before looking back at his dorky companion. “Thanks, Shel. You’ve always got my back!”

Sheldon rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Uh, no problem!”

Brad winked at Sheldon before turning back to Jenny, playfully teasing her and making brief physical contacts with her, each one making Sheldon’s stomach twist and turn more and more, which made him feel worse and worse. He wanted to be happy for his friends and their sudden spike in relationship luck, but he just…  _ couldn’t _ ! Since when was Brad even into  _ Jenny _ ? Or even the other way around? Maybe he was just bad with social cues or something. But still… where did this even come from?

Thankfully Sheldon was able to get a break when Brad’s parents entered the living room. “Alright, we’ll be off now,” stated Mr. Carbunkle. “You promise to make sure Tucker gets into bed within a reasonable hour, Bradley?”

“Nooo worries about that, pops,” Brad smirked, motioning his hand down. “He’ll be fast asleep before he even knows it!”

Mr. Carbunkle nodded with a chuckle. “Stay safe, you kids!” he boomed as his wife waved to the three teenagers before leaving through the front door.

Not long after, a rampage of tiny footsteps could be heard barreling down the stairs. “ _ Braaad! _ ” the voice shouted. “When are we gonna watch our --- hi Jenny --- our movies? I wanna see the one with the cool space vampires!”

“No way, dude! Dad would kill me if I let you watch that kind of stuff,” Brad protested. “We’ve got something else for you instead.”

“Aw, rats!” Tuck pouted.

“Rats is right!” Brad jested. “This movie’s got rats!”

He picked up the bootleg animated movie that was next to the pile of horror movies and waved it in front of Tuck, who snatched it out of his hand. “This looks dumb!” Tuck complained.

“What? Nooo, I’m sure it’s fine,” Brad assured him with not very much confidence in his voice. “Right, Shel?”

Sheldon tensed up. “Um, yeah! Great movie for the whooole family!” he replied, even less confidently than Brad.

Tuck squinted his eyes in suspicion but shrugged it off.

Brad popped the DVD into the disc player under the family TV and then plopped onto the couch, Jenny sitting on his left and Sheldon sitting on his right. Tuck laid down on his stomach, holding his head up with his arms as he waited for the film to start.

The film started, and the four all watched with an equal amount of intrigue as to what in the world this film would be about. This intrigue then swiftly left the four of them. The movie was… not very good; it was amusingly bad, actually. Jenny looked like she was ready to turn off her sound and sight sensors, while Brad had to contain his laughter in order to not disturb Tuck, who looked like he had been sitting through an entire week’s worth of school.

When the movie finally ended after fourty-four minutes --- minutes that felt like an  _ eternity _ \--- Tuck slowly and dreadfully turned to face his older brother. “That… was  _ awful _ ,” Tuck groaned. “ _ Now _ can I watch the space vampire movie?”

Brad shook his head. “It’s almost your bedtime, bud. Time to get ready to snooze.”

Tuck whined. “But  _ Braaad _ , I wanna watch something fun first!”

“You already did!”

“That movie doesn’t count if I didn’t like it!”

“I could tell him a cool story!” Jenny butted in, earning an excited stare from Tuck. “You would do that?” Tuck asked with a huge grin on his face.

“You would  _ do  _ that?” Brad and Sheldon repeated excitedly and in unison.

“Sure!” she replied. “I can tell you about the one time I had to fight off a horde of space lizards!”

Tuck excitedly nodded.

Jenny grinned before getting into her story. “Well, it all started when…”

As Jenny told her tale, Sheldon couldn’t help but get lost in her voice. Sure, he was always interested in superhero stories, but this was  _ real life _ Jenny was talking about! Hearing about all of her adventures always made Sheldon feel like maybe his life could be more interesting, especially if he were to spend a life with her…

Sheldon briefly glanced over at Brad, whose eyes looked like that of a child in a candy store. Sheldon remembered how his friend was also interested in this stuff like he was. In fact, Brad’s the one who would always listen to him go on about his favourite comics. Of course, maybe that’s why Brad was suddenly so entranced by Jenny? Maybe there were similar reasons to why Sheldon was so intrigued by his robot friend?

Halfway through Jenny’s story, a loud alarm could be heard before a monitor popped out of Jenny’s waist. “XJ-9, where in the world  _ are _ you!?” an older woman’s voice shrilled. “Your emergency alarm should have been going off for the past hour!”

Jenny facepalmed. “Oh no!” she cried out. “I forgot to turn it back on after my date!”

“You turned it off for a  _ date!? _ ”

“I was at Mezmer’s, mom! The owner would have been really  _ really _ mad at me if my big alarm went off while I was there.”

Dr. Wakeman sighed. “Well, you can tell me the whole story  _ after _ you go out there and do what you were programmed to do, and  _ then _ come right back home!”

“But  _ mom! _ ”

“Don’t argue with me, young lady! My word is final.”

“ _ Fiiine _ ,” Jenny groaned before hanging up on her mother and turning to the three boys in the room. “I’m sorry, guys. I can finish the story for you tomorrow though, alright?”

“Are you sure you can’t wait five more minutes?” Tuck whined.

“Are you kidding? Mom would be  _ furious _ if I stalled out past her orders! She’d probably have me grounded for at least two or three weeks.”

Brad winced. “We wouldn’t want that, Jen! Go do your thing, we’ll be here to hear your story after.”

“Alright,” Jenny sighed with a chuckle. “Thanks, Brad. I’ll see you later.”

The two leaned in for a quick peck before Jenny sped toward the door. “Bye, Tuck! Bye, Sheldon!” she called out before exiting the house and flying off.

Brad waved at her before turning back to the rest of the gang. “Alright, Tuck, you know what time it is.”

“I know, I know,” Tuck mumbled. “You still have to tuck me in though.”

“Yeah,  _ tuck in Tuck _ , I remember,” Brad laughed. “Come on now, say goodnight to Sheldon so we can rest up for Jenny’s return.”

“Okay… goodnight, Sheldon!” Tuck waved before running up the stairs. Brad went to follow him but first turned to his friend. “I’ll be down in a few,” Brad stated. “How ‘bout you fire up the next movie?”

“Sure, no problem!” Sheldon replied.

Brad gave a thumbs up before catching up with his younger brother, leaving Sheldon alone in the family room with his emotions. Brad and Jenny kissed  _ again!? _ What next, was Brad going to announce the wedding? It’s not like it’d be his first one, even…

Sheldon chuckled to himself about the time Brad got himself caught up in a marriage with a space biker. Definitely seemed way better than being trapped in space for ninety years, that’s for sure…

He went to insert the next movie into the DVD player before hearing footsteps trail down the staircase. “Alright,” Brad said, “Tuck should be asleep, so I guess that just leaves us two.”

Sheldon stood up, fumbling nervously with the fabric of his hoodie sleeves. “Sure does!” he replied anxiously. “So, uh, the movie…”

“Right! We can start that in a minute, I’m kinda hungry though. I’m gonna go raid the pantry real quick!”

Before Sheldon could offer to tag along, Brad had already darted off to look for some snacks, leaving Sheldon to flop down on the couch and wait for his friend to return. He listened as Brad mixed a bunch of stuff together in a bowl, wondering why he didn’t just follow along as a way to entertain himself. Letting out a deep exhale, he started setting up the closed captioning for the movie before sinking further into the seat’s cushions.

Brad ran back into the room, a comically large bowl of popcorn, pretzels, and chocolate candies mixed together in hand; it was held all together with super sticky caramel. “Alright!” he called out. “Snacks are ready!”

Sheldon eyed the bowl of food with intimidation. Just the sight of it was giving him a toothache…

“Aw, c’mon, Shel!” Brad huffed. “What’s’a matter with my food choice?”

Sheldon awkwardly pointed to his braces.

Brad gasped before facepalming. “Duh!” he interjected before placing the bowl down on the table. “Totally forgot you got those put in recently… Wait right here, I’ll getcha something you can actually eat.” Brad quickly scurried back into the kitchen and ran back out with a super-sized bag of barbeque chips. “This should work, yeah?”

“Yeah, that’s fine, thank you.”

Brad gave off a satisfied grin before sitting back down with the snacks. He took the remote and pressed the play button, watching the movie displayed on the screen.

As the movie went on, the two boys gobbled up their snacks at an incredible pace; they had already both made it a third of the way through their snacks at the halfway point of the movie.

Brad decided to put his bowl down once the tension started picking up in the movie. “Oooh, this is the part where it gets  _ real _ good!” Brad whispered excitedly, wrapping an arm around Sheldon’s shoulders and pulling him closer.

Sheldon squeaked impulsively at the action. “Uh… yeah, it sure is!” he muttered in reply, his voice a higher pitch than usual. Somehow, being close to Brad was making his heart race more than the movie ever was. Maybe it’s because Brad threw him off? Admittedly, he wasn’t expecting it, even if Brad was known to have done this with him occasionally in the past. However, something about the warmth radiating off of Brad’s body was comforting, soothing his beating heart. Despite already being close in the moment, he started thinking about how he wouldn’t be opposed to this sort of thing more often…

Nevermind! Heart racing again! What was he  _ thinking _ ? Brad probably does this kind of stuff with him more than with Jenny, and that’s already  _ without _ the sharp increase of frequency his mind was attempting to propose. Why was he so obsessed with Brad right now?

Sheldon managed to get lost in his train of thought for the rest of the movie. Brad let out a large yawn, his arm stretching up and away from Sheldon momentarily before plopping back down. “So,” Brad started, “I’m  _ exhausted _ . I wasn’t expecting to be so tuckered out after one whole movie. Guess it’s ‘cause we had such a busy day, huh?”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Sheldon replied. “Especially you, I’ve noticed…” he murmured under his breath.

“Huh?”

“Nothing!”

Brad squinted his eyes momentarily before he shrugged, getting up from the couch shortly after. “Well, I guess we could probably head upstairs then? I’m ready to hit the hay!”

Sheldon hesitantly nodded in response.

“Cool!” Brad winked before holding out a hand out to Sheldon. “Get on up, then.”

Sheldon looked at the hand presented in front of him before grabbing it with his own. Brad pulled him up with all of the strength in his upper body, which wasn’t much, but Sheldon was light as a feather, meaning that even Brad’s weak tug was enough to send Sheldon almost crashing into him. Their bodies were both pressed up against each other for a moment before they both reflexively took a step back.

“Yeesh!” Brad exhaled. “You almost whapped me right in the head!”

“Hey,  _ you’re _ the one who pulled me up to begin with!”

“I know, I know,” Brad chucked, running a hand through his hair. He motioned for Sheldon to follow him up the stairs and into his room. Once there, Brad flopped dramatically onto his bed. “So, Shel,” he asked, “what kinda plans do you have for the weekend?”

“Just the usual, probably,” Sheldon responded, sitting down on the bed next to Brad. “Although, a new documentary on different variants of crocodiles just came out, so I’ll definitely be taking a look at that at some point!”

“That’s awesome, man!” Brad exclaimed. “I dunno how you manage to sit through all those documentaries, though. It makes me feel like I’m in school when I’m  _ not _ in school!”

“It’s better than school, though! I get to learn about things I actually like.”

“Ah, alright. So you’re saying if I found a documentary about comic books or pretty ladies, then…?”

Sheldon laughed at Brad’s comment. “If I can actually  _ find _ a good one, then I’ll make sure to tell you.”

“ _ Sweet _ … how about we watch it together?”

“Of course! I’m always open to expanding my knowledge.”

Brad chuckled. “You always are…” he murmured before sitting upright. “Hey, do you need pajamas, man?”

Sheldon looked down at his daytime outfit and remembered he never packed his overnight stuff. “Eek! Yeah, I’m going to need to borrow something…” he responded, feeling embarrassed.

“No worries, Shel! I’ve always got you covered,” Brad assured before standing up and rummaging through his clean laundry. He pulled out a navy blue shirt and matching pants; there was a superhero logo pattern on the clothing. He handed the pajamas to Sheldon. “Hopefully they aren’t too big on you,” Brad teased. “I know I’m definitely  _ way _ taller than you.”

Sheldon stuck his tongue out at Brad. “I’ll be just  _ fine _ in these,” he huffed before standing up and walking into the bathroom to change. He walked back out and --- sure enough --- the clothes were just barely too big for his smaller shape. “When I was in there, I realized I also can’t brush my teeth tonight. My orthodontist is going to be  _ livid! _ ”

“Ah, that’s no issue!” Brad said, waving his hand nonchalantly. “You can always use my toothbrush if you want!”

Sheldon grimaced. “... On second thought, I’m fine not cleaning my teeth for one night.”

“Hey, your loss,” Brad shrugged before grabbing his own pair of night clothes and briefly leaving to change into them and get ready for bed. Sheldon sat down on the bed, anxiously twiddling his thumbs until Brad finally returned to the room. “You ready to snooze, Shel?” Brad asked, sitting down next to Sheldon.

“I sure am!” Sheldon replied.

Brad gave Sheldon a thumbs up before climbing over to the other side of the bed and under the covers.

Sheldon nervously stared at Brad. “... Are you sure you’re still fine with me sleeping in the same bed as you?”

Brad sat back up from his laying position. “Well, yeah! I’ve never had an issue with it. Why, do you want me to fish the sleeping bag out of who knows where?”

“Huh? No, no, I’m fine with this. I just… um, I just wanted to make sure. Just in case!”

“Shel,” Brad assured his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder, “you know I’d always tell you if there was anything wrong. I’m an open guy! If I had any issue with you, you’d know.”

Sheldon weakly smiled. “Yeah, I guess I would, wouldn’t I?”

“You really would… now can we get some rest in, man?”

Sheldon nodded before climbing under the sheets. The two of them laid back down, Brad almost immediately conking out the second his head hit the pillow.

Sheldon, on the other hand, was still wide awake. Why was he suddenly worried about something like staying in the same bed as Brad? They’d both done that for years at this point, it was basically habit… so what was the issue now? Why was he suddenly so nervous to be close to his friend? Maybe it was because he was with Jenny… but that didn’t make sense either. Why would it matter if Brad and Jenny were together? It wasn’t like he was romantic competition. That’d be weird, right? It’s not like he would consider Brad that either. This was  _ Brad _ , the same Brad he had known for years and never once obsessed over him the way he fawned over Jenny… right?

Sheldon felt his heart pounding out of his chest. Why was he doubting that he didn’t see Brad on a similar level as Jenny? That should have been an obvious fact. Was he just overthinking things again? Maybe he needed to talk to that nice therapist lady again, he was worried his anxiety was heightening more than usual. It’d explain why he had been overthinking every interaction with Brad today… or at least the ones where Brad and him would be close. It probably  _ was _ just a social anxiety thing, then, right? Because otherwise the only explanation would be…

Sheldon decided that maybe he didn’t want to think about the other option. He closed his eyes and hoped that sleep would take him soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK GUYS I PROMISE i'm so sorry this took forever but i've got the worst work ethic. chapter 4 is underway though, i wanna get it out before the month ends


	4. Discoveries

The rest of the weekend passed with a total blur. Somehow it was Monday again, and Sheldon was sitting in his last class of the day. Ever since Friday night, he had been thinking about his feelings toward Brad. Was he nervous about Brad? Was he jealous that Brad was with Jenny? No, that wouldn’t explain why he was nervous  _ before _ Brad and Jenny became… somewhat of a thing. He still wasn’t sure if those two were actually dating or not.

The bell rung, signalling that the class --- and school day, for that matter --- was over. Sheldon packed his notebook and pens before walking out of the classroom. He dodged everyone around him per usual, trying not to be in anyone’s way as he slithered through the halls, lest someone with mean intentions got to him.

As he was traversing the halls, he noticed a familiar ginger in the halls.

_ Declan _ .

Sheldon grumbled before making his way over toward the tall boy. “Hey!” Sheldon shouted, catching the attention of Declan, who looked mortified to see the five and a half foot geek storming over to him and making a scene. Sheldon stopped directly in front of Declan before stomping his foot down. “What makes you think you could just stand up Jenny on---”

“ _ Shut it! _ ” Declan hissed, anxiously eyeing the small crowd of kids who were staring at the two of them. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Look, you have something you need to say, you can, but I’m not having this conversation in front of the entire school. And probably unlike  _ you _ ,  _ I _ actually have reputation at stake here.” He subtly motioned for Sheldon to follow him.

Sheldon was suspicious but tagged along anyway. The two of them swiftly walked out of school and toward the local park. Declan pulled Sheldon to a part of the park isolated from everyone else. “Okay,” Declan started, “I know you’re mad at me, but let me explain my side and you’ll know why I ditched your robot friend Friday afternoon.”

“This better be one super good reason! Jenny deserves better than someone like  _ you _ who leaves dates without a word. You made her cry!”

Declan flinched at the last part. “I did?”

Sheldon nodded, crossing his arms.

Declan inhaled sharply through his teeth. “Dang… I didn’t think she’d have been that upset.”

“Why wouldn’t she be when you  _ left her entirely alone at Mezmer’s? _ ”

“I…” Declan ran a hand through his curly locks. “Okay, listen. I thought I could stomach going on a date with her, but after a while I couldn’t take it anymore. I got overwhelmed and dipped when I got the chance. Plus, I’m sure  _ you _ of all people will understand when I say that I would rather stand someone up and have them be mad at me than get… outed.”

“Outed as what, a horrible person?”

“No, moron! I’m talking about people finding out that…” Declan leaned in closer and whispered the last part, “... that my interest isn’t women.”

Sheldon was taken aback. “You’re…?”

“Yeah, and I don’t want anyone finding out either. I know  _ you _ feel like you can be open about it, but I can’t.”

“Wait, wait, what?” Sheldon pointed to himself. “You think… I’m…?”

Declan raised an eyebrow. “Well,  _ yeah _ . You and your boyfriend were on a date at the same time as Jenny and I.”

Sheldon sputtered in utter shock. “B-B- _ Boyfriend!? _ ” he shrilled at the top of his lungs, earning a hush from Declan. Sheldon fumbled with his hoodie fabric anxiously. “Brad and I aren’t… we’re not---well, we’re just friends, you see!”

Declan’s eyes widened in horror. “... So, you’re… you’re  _ not _ gay?”

“No! … Probably not? I don’t know!” Sheldon cried in exasperation. He put his hands over his face in embarrassment. “How would you even know that sort of thing?” he asked with a bit of a muffle.

“I mean… it’s the same feeling most guys get about girls, except they’re about… well,  _ guys _ . My heart gets all weird and racey around guys I’m into, and I dream about going on dates with them, holding hands, I dunno… other stuff like that…” Declan groaned. “It’s so embarrassing to be admitting this to you, you know. You cannot say a  _ word _ about this, got it? Or else I’ll have someone… I don’t know, shove you in your locker or something.”

Sheldon put his hands back down. “I, uh, I promise I won’t say a word, but…” he gulped, “... I don’t know.” He thought about how a lot of these things were experiences he’d faced with Brad since Friday, maybe longer. “I can’t be gay if I already like girls though, right? Plus there’s no way anyone could like  _ both _ , I don’t think…”

Declan shrugged. “I’m… not sure actually, but it probably could be like that? We could always look into it.”

“... We?”

“Yeah,  _ we _ . You’re the only person I’ve told about this to, and I feel an obligation to help you figure yourself out. How about we do our own research tonight and meet here again after school on Wednesday?”

Sheldon thought for a moment before nodding. “Sure, yeah, we could do that.”

The two of them shook hands before exchanging emails and house numbers, heading their own ways home.

Sheldon got back to his house and almost immediately heard the landline ring. “I’ve got it!” he called out to nobody since his parents were still at work. He picked up the phone and held it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Sheldon!” Brad cried out on the other end. “Where were you today? I missed you on our walk home.”

Oops. “Uh, sorry about that,” Sheldon apologized. “I had something I needed to do right after school.”

“Try to warn me next time, man! I waited outside of school for thirty minutes before having Jenny sweep the campus grounds.”

“Yikes… I’ll try to say something next time, but it was pretty last moment so I completely forgot to come tell you..”

“It’s no problem, man… you doing okay, though?”

“... Of course, why wouldn’t I be? It’s not like I’m doing anything suspicious or anything like that!”

The line momentarily went silent. Sheldon mentally cursed at himself for being terrible at keeping his mouth shut.

Eventually a quiet response came from the phone. “... Well, whatever you’re up to, just make sure you’re safe, okay? We don’t need to have you go to space and back again!” Brad chuckled, although the infliction in his voice made his joy sound anything but genuine.

This came off quite obviously to Sheldon, but he decided not to press it and risk blabbing about his afternoon with the boy who stood up their good friend Jenny. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me!” Sheldon chirped back, nervously grinning.

“Alright… so, where did you---”

Sheldon could hear someone calling Brad’s name on the other end.

“Shoot!” Brad muttered. “That’s my dad, he’s calling me down to help make dinner. See you tomorrow on the way to school?”

“Sure, same as usual!”

“Cool. Seeya!”

The phone clicked, leaving Sheldon hanging. He put the phone back on its holder before heading into the kitchen to make himself a quick dinner. He was used to eating alone; his parents would usually only come home past nine at night.

Sheldon’s microwave dinner went down at a ridiculous speed so that he could immediately bolt to his room and log onto his computer. He opened his email account and saw four new unread emails. An update from  _ Biology Monthly _ , some random spam advertisement, the weekly school news, and one from an unrecognized email. Sheldon opened it up to see the following:

hey sheldon its declan. u wanna call 2nite @ 8? or 2morrow any time after 6. whatever works for u. ok bye

Sheldon cracked his knuckles before hastily typing a response.

Hello Declan,

8pm sounds perfect! My parents come home around 9pm, so we would only have an hour to speak. I hope that’s alright with you.

Thank you,

Sheldon Oswald Lee

He hit the send button before wiping his forehead. It felt…  _ odd _ that the boy he wanted to spar with mere hours ago was now befriending him and trying to help him figure out his identity? Normally he would go to Brad about this sort of thing, but this time was different. Even the thought of confessing any of this to Brad made his heart race.

Sheldon decided to pass the time by getting a head start on his homework. He was always fast with that kind of thing, so it wasn’t any sort of issue to mindlessly scribble solutions to his calculus problems.

His work was interrupted when the phone rang throughout the house. Sheldon picked up the phone in his room. “Hello?”

“Is this Sheldon?”

The voice sounded familiar. “Yes, hello. Is this Declan?”

“You got it,” Declan replied. “Saw from your email that you were free, so I called. You can drop the formality in your emails, by the way. Makes me feel weird.”

Sheldon felt flustered. “Oops, force of habit.”

“Hey, better than accidentally starting an email to your teachers with  _ ‘what up dude’ _ .”

“Guessing you’ve done that before?”

“Too many times.” Declan sighed. “But anyway, I was looking into your… situation? And I think I found what it could be.”

“Already? That was fast.”

“No kidding, threw me off too. I guess I should start by saying yeah, you can like both.”

“... Are you sure?”

“I wouldn’t have told you if I wasn’t.”

Sheldon’s heart dropped. He hesitated a moment, trying to process the reality before gulping nervously. “Alright, so what’s it called then?”

“Apparently the word is  _ bisexual _ . Dunno if you’ve heard of it, but I sure haven’t.”

“No, I’ve never heard anybody use that before.”

“At least I’m not alone. I’d take a look into it if I were you.”

“Alright, thanks…”

The line was silent for a few seconds before Declan cleared his throat. “You taking it okay?”

Sheldon felt his arms shake anxiously. How  _ was _ he supposed to take it? He was suddenly nervous around his best friend Brad, he got jealous of Brad and Jenny dating for reasons he wasn’t expecting to be jealous, he ditched Brad for a guy who stood up Jenny of all people, and now he and the guy were talking about Shedon possibly being… bisexual, was it? His whole world was flipped upside down!

“... Look,” Declan sighed. “It wasn’t easy for me either, realizing I was different.”

“It… wasn’t?”

“Of course not. My parents still expect me to go out there and bring home a girlfriend. I haven’t bothered telling them yet.”

Sheldon thought for a second. “I’m not sure what my parents would think. Or what…” He hesitated.

“Or what…  _ what? _ ”

Sheldon let out a deep exhale before holding the phone closer to his lips, whispering into it. “What is Brad going to think?”

“Brad? Who’s---” Declan gasped, letting out a quiet  _ ‘ohhh my god’ _ . “Right, that’s the boy from Mezmer’s. He’s your friend, right? I’m sure he’ll understand what way you swing. It’s not like you’re into him, right?”

Sheldon didn’t respond.

Declan apparently got the message, breathing in sharply through his teeth. “That would definitely complicate things.”

“Well, I’m not  _ certain _ , it’s just a maybe! I might just be overthinking, he’s probably just a friend and nothing more.”

Declan didn’t say anything in response, but Sheldon could hear the judgement.

Sheldon’s grip on the phone tightened. “It’s not like I’ve had the chance to figure that out or anything.”

“Why don’t you walk me through what’s making you so uncertain that he’s just a friend?”

Sheldon ran through the thoughts he had been having about Brad over the course of the past few days.

Declan could be heard stifling a laugh by the end of it.

“Hey!” Sheldon yelled, his cheeks turning redder by the second. “What’s so funny?”

“ _ Wow _ ,” Declan chuckled, “you’ve  _ definitely _ got it bad. Your first strike was overthinking literally everything Brad would do with you. Have you ever thought of any girl this way?”

“Well, there’s Jenny! She’s wonderful…”

“Okay, now take what you’ve thought about Brad but swap his name out for Jenny’s. See any similarities?”

Sheldon went to protest that  _ no, Jenny’s on another level, his feelings for Brad couldn’t compete _ , but… they  _ could _ . Some of the stuff he would think about Brad is stuff he had most certainly thought about Jenny. Some of the things he dreams about doing with Jenny is also stuff he already does with Brad.

Thankfully, Declan spoke before Sheldon could even formulate a response. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want, but that’s just food for thought.”

Sheldon pulled himself back into the conversation. “Right, yeah. I’m definitely thinking about it, but it’s a lot to process.”

“Not a problem. I’ll leave you be, how about we talk tomorrow? If you’re down.”

“Sure! Same time?”

“Same time.”

The line clicked, signalling the call was over. Sheldon put the phone down and turned away to work on the rest of his assignments.

What felt like only a few minutes later, a knock was heard at the door. Sheldon wasn’t expecting any guests, so he quietly made his way downstairs and peeked out of one of one of the windows. Once he saw who it was, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion before heading to the door and opening it. “Brad? What are you doing at my house?”

“Well, I tried calling to ask but your phone line kept coming up busy… sooo I figured I’d drop by to ask you instead. Mind if I come inside for a minute?”

“Sure,” Sheldon responded, holding the door open for Brad.

Brad strolled inside, carrying a brown leather satchel. “I’m totally stuck on my pre-calc work. How do you even do this stuff?”

Sheldon shrugged. “I guess it’s just something that comes to me naturally. I think it’s really interesting, too.”

“I don’t understand that either! I could never get behind numbers as much as you could.”

“Well, it’s required to know advanced mathematics in some of my biggest hobbies, so obviously I’d have to be good at it if I wanted to get anywhere with it.”

“Right, yeah, your little invention collection.”

The two made their way to Sheldon’s room before Brad sat down at the desk, pulling out a textbook and some sheets of paper. “I’m on Section 4, Problem 3. You know how to do it?”

Sheldon took a quick glance at the problem. “Of course! You’re going to want to start this problem out by…”

And thus Sheldon and Brad went off for about thirty minutes talking about homework and how to figure out the solution. They were both so engulfed in the subject matter that neither of them noticed Sheldon’s parents entering the house; at least, not until a knock was heard at Sheldon’s room door.

Sheldon spun around to see his father in the door frame. “Oh, um, hey dad! I’m just helping Brad with his work.”

“Are you done with yours?”

“Yes! Er,  _ almost _ . I have a few problems left, but it’s nothing I won’t be able to finish before bedtime.”

“Heya, Mr. Lee!” Brad waved. “Shel here’s been giving me a hand with my pre-calc. Thank the stars he’s such a genius!”

Mr. Lee nodded. “He is a very smart young man, yes,” he responded before looking back at Sheldon. “When will Bradley be heading home?”

Sheldon looked over at Brad, hoping his friend would have an answer.

Thankfully, Brad got the message. “Actually, we were just about done with this problem, so I’ll be out of your hair in no time, sir.”

“Right, yes, my hair…” Mr. Lee huffed, rubbing the back of his incredibly bald head.

Brad tensed up, letting out a nervous laugh. “Whoops, I meant that I’ll be leaving in a minute!”

“I know what you meant,” Mr. Lee said, barely cracking a smile. “Will you still be walking Sheldon to school tomorrow?”

“You know it!”

“Excellent. I’ll leave you two boys to your work now.”

As Mr. Lee left the room, Sheldon looked back over at Brad. “So, we should probably finish this problem so you can get home, right?”

“Right, yeah,” Brad replied before picking his pencil up again.

The two of them worked through the last problem of the homework. Brad let out a sigh of relief. “Finally, it’s done!” he exclaimed. “Thanks a bunch, Shel. You’re the man!”

“I’m the man,” Sheldon sheepishly replied.

Brad leaned over and wrapped his arms around Sheldon, who winced before doing the same to Brad. The two did a quick bro-like pat on the back before pulling away. Brad stood up, holstering his bag again before the two walked to the front door. “See you at our usual time?” Brad asked.

“You got it!” Sheldon responded. “See you then!”

Brad called out into the house a quick goodbye to Sheldon’s parents before exiting the house, giving a wave to Sheldon.

Sheldon waved back; once Brad was out of sight, he closed the door and immediately scampered back upstairs to do his homework. As he finished up the last of his assignments, he thought about his encounter with Brad. It was weird; while he was used to Brad coming over for tutoring, he noticed that Brad had been out of focus more than usual, Sheldon having to snap him back into the groove more times than he’s had to in the past. Was Brad okay? Maybe he was too busy thinking about Jenny to focus, and that’s why he was so spacey.

Sheldon figured he should probably talk to Brad about that. Even Sheldon had been there before, but he learned to put work over daydreaming very early on with how his parents raised him. Granted, his daydreaming had  _ also _ gotten worse ever since Brad and Jenny got together. Maybe it was just something in the air? Who knew.

Sheldon put away his completed classwork before heading into his garage to work on his newest creation. He hoped that putting his focus into his passion projects would help recalibrate his system, and that in no time he’d be back to normal.

If only he knew what was to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh i felt super unconfident about this chapter but that's probably because me ironically watching riverdale messed with my ability to properly write dialogue. my proofreader told me declan had cheryl vibes in the very first line he has for this chapter and it genuinely fucking destroyed me. i guess it makes sense bc they're both ginger and homosexual but also that's such a funny fucking thing to hear from someone. yeah bro you write this character like riverdale. my proofreader thinks he's so funny. this is my payback for kin-assigning him as betty and then telling him he'd date jughead jones. mister weirdo copypasta. wouldn't it be funny if at some point i have sheldon essentially give the weirdo copypasta as a speech. i think that'd be hilarious. anyways i'm fucking destroyed please leave your feedback in the comments


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